By: Seliger S.B. No. 907
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the management, operation, rulemaking authority, and
oversight of groundwater conservation districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.1071, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (f) and adding Subsection (f-1) to
read as follows:
(c) The commission and the Texas Water Development Board
shall provide technical assistance to a district in the development
of the management plan required under Subsection (a) that [which]
may include, if requested by the district, a preliminary review and
comment on the plan prior to final approval by the Texas Water
Development Board [board]. If such review and comment by the
commission is requested, the commission shall provide comment not
later than 30 days from the date the request is received.
(f) [The district shall adopt rules necessary to implement
the management plan.] Prior to the development of the district's
first management plan and [its] approval of that plan under Section
36.1072, the district:
(1) [may not adopt rules other than rules pertaining
to the registration and interim permitting of new and existing
wells and rules governing spacing and procedure before the
district's board; however, the district may not adopt any rules
limiting the production of wells, except rules requiring that
groundwater produced from a well be put to a nonwasteful,
beneficial use. The district] may accept applications for permits
under Section 36.113, provided the district does not act on any such
application until the district's management plan is approved as
provided in Section 36.1072;
(2) may adopt rules pertaining to the registration,
interim permitting, metering, production reporting, spacing, and,
where applicable, fee payment for authorized or actual production
of water from new and existing wells;
(3) may adopt rules governing procedure before the
district's board; and
(4) may not adopt any rules limiting the production of
wells, except rules requiring that groundwater produced from a well
be put to a nonwasteful, beneficial use.
(f-1) After a management plan is finally approved under
Section 36.1072, the district shall adopt or amend rules limiting
the production of wells or allocating groundwater as necessary to
implement the management plan and achieve the applicable desired
future condition. A district may not adopt or amend rules limiting
the production of wells or allocating groundwater if the district
fails to:
(1) adopt a management plan as required by this
section;
(2) submit a management plan to the executive
administrator as required by Section 36.1072; and
(3) receive approval of the management plan under
Section 36.1072.
SECTION 2. Section 36.1072, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
follows:
(c) Once the executive administrator has granted
administrative approval to [approved] a management plan:
(1) the executive administrator may not revoke but may
require revisions to the approved [groundwater conservation
district] management plan as provided by Subsection (g); and
(2) the executive administrator may request
additional information from the district if the information is
necessary to clarify, modify, or supplement previously submitted
material[, but a request for additional information does not render
the management plan unapproved].
(c-1) Not later than the 60th day after the date of the
administrative approval of a district's management plan under
Subsection (c), the executive administrator shall review the
management plan to determine whether goals of the management plan
are consistent with the achievement of the desired future
conditions established under Section 36.108(d) that are applicable
to all or part of the district, considering any available
information regarding groundwater levels, and:
(1) request additional information from the district;
(2) recommend that the district make substantive
changes to the management plan; or
(3) approve the management plan.
SECTION 3. Section 36.1073, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 36.1073. AMENDMENT TO MANAGEMENT PLAN. Any amendment
to a district's [the] management plan shall be submitted to the
executive administrator within 60 days following adoption of the
amendment by the district's board. The executive administrator
shall review and approve any amendment that [which] substantially
affects the management plan in accordance with the procedures
established under Section 36.1072.
SECTION 4. Subsection (n), Section 36.108, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(n) The districts shall prepare [a] revised conditions
[plan] in accordance with development board recommendations and
hold, after notice, at least one public hearing at a central
location in the groundwater management area. After consideration
of all public and development board comments, the districts shall
revise the conditions and submit the conditions to the development
board for review.
SECTION 5. Section 36.207, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 36.207. USE OF PRODUCTION [PERMIT] FEES AUTHORIZED BY
SPECIAL LAW. A district may use funds obtained from production
[permit] fees collected pursuant to the special law governing the
district for any purpose consistent with the district's approved
[certified water] management plan including, without limitation,
making grants, loans, or contractual payments to achieve,
facilitate, or expedite reductions in groundwater pumping or the
development or distribution of alternative water supplies.
SECTION 6. Section 36.301, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 36.301. VIOLATIONS RELATED TO [FAILURE TO SUBMIT A]
MANAGEMENT PLAN. The commission shall take appropriate action
under Section 36.303 if:
(1) a district adopts or amends a rule in violation of
Section 36.1071(f-1);
(2) [If] a district [board] fails to submit a
management plan or to receive approval [certification] of the [its]
management plan under Section 36.1072;
(3) a district fails to timely readopt the management
plan or to submit the readopted management plan to the executive
administrator for approval in accordance with Section 36.1072(f);
(4) the executive administrator determines that a
readopted management plan does not meet the requirements for
approval, and the district has exhausted all appeals; or
(5) a district fails to submit or receive approval
[certification] of an amendment to the management plan under
Section 36.1073[, the commission shall take appropriate action
under Section 36.303].
SECTION 7. (a) Section 36.1071, Water Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to the rulemaking authority of a groundwater
conservation district related to a management plan or an amendment
to a management plan that is submitted by the district to the
executive administrator of the Texas Water Development Board for
review and approval on or after the effective date of this Act. A
district's rulemaking authority related to a management plan or an
amendment to a management plan that is submitted to the executive
administrator of the Texas Water Development Board before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
management plan or amendment was submitted, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 36.301,
Water Code, applies only to a violation by a groundwater
conservation district that occurs on or after the effective date of
this Act. A violation that occurs before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the violation
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.